EWE places order for German offshore wind farm with Siemens

Siemens Energy has been contracted by EWE AG and ENOVA GmbH & Co KG to supply 30 wind turbines for the Riffgat wind farm in the North Sea. With a total installed capacity of 108 megawatts (MW) the wind farm will supply approximately 100,000 German households with ecofriendly electricity starting in late 2012.

Siemens has received an order from the Oldenburg-based utility EWE and the ENOVA Group to supply 30 wind turbines each rated at 3.6 MW. Under the terms of the contract Siemens will install, connect and commission the wind turbines, and perform maintenance for an initial period of five years. “Offshore wind power is now finally picking up impetus in Germany, too,” said René Umlauft, CEO of the Renewable Energy Division of Siemens Energy. “Riffgat will be one of the first commercial wind farms in German waters. Together with EWE and ENOVA we’re bringing Germany a big step forward in establishing ecofriendly, sustainable power supply.” With an installed offshore capacity of more than 1000 MW and an order backlog totaling another 3000 MW Siemens is the leading supplier of offshore wind turbines. Including onshore projects Siemens’ order backlog for wind turbines totals more than seven billion euros.

“Signing of the contract for the supply of wind turbines is a key step toward implementation of the Riffgat offshore wind farm. With the erection of alpha ventus, Germany’s first offshore wind farm, EWE has paved the way for offshore power generation in Germany, and now we want to reap the benefits of our pioneering achievements with Riffgat,” stated Dr. Thomas Neuber, EWE’s Chief Officer of Procurement and Production. With the erection and operation of Riffgat EWE and ENOVA want to implement a new quality in cooperation between the participant companies along the value creation chain. This is intended to produce essential findings, which will help wind farms to generate electricity in the future at similar costs to those achieved by conventional generators and to assume an active role in the power supply system.

The Riffgat wind farm will be erected 15 kilometers northwest of the north Frisian island of Borkum. Initial civil works on the six square-kilometer site are scheduled to commence next year. The preliminary license for the Riffgat offshore wind farm has been issued. EWE and ENOVA have filed an application for a construction permit and operating license for Riffgat and are anticipating approvals in the second half of this year.

Wind turbines are part of Siemens’ Environmental Portfolio. In fiscal 2009, revenue from the Portfolio totaled about EUR23 billion, making Siemens the world’s largest supplier of ecofriendly technologies. In the same period, the company’s products and solutions enabled customers to reduce their CO2 emissions by 210 million tons. This amount equals the combined annual CO2 emissions of New York, Tokyo, London and Berlin..